Creature Creature ....

The creature ( looks like a lion ) guards the driveway up to Dunham Massey Hall.

As a child I visited the Park many times but it was not until the late 1970's were the general public allowed in. It was a further 30 years before I actually managed last weekend to visit the Hall which I'm glad I did - because - it is a very interesting place !!!

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What's the time ???

The clock tower at Dunham Massey.

Quite a landmark ..

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Dunham Massey - A Georgian Hall

You'll find Dunham Massey - the Hall , Gardens and Deer Park - not far from the small town of Altrincham near Manchester.

Originally owned by the Earls of Stamford the 10th Earl bequeathed the estate to the National Trust in 1976.

In 1066 Hamo de Massey was given land at Dunham by William the Conqueror and the first record of  Dunham Park itself was recorded in 1362.

By 1577 Saxton's map of Cheshire shows the Hall surrounded by a park.

The 2nd Earl of Stamford began tree planting in the formal French style in 1694.

By 1773 day trippers are using the newly built Bridgewater Canal to escape the muck and grime of Manchester to visit the Park and Gardens ..

In 1978 the Old Park is designated an SSSI ( if I remember correctly a Site of Special Scientific Interest ) to protect it's trees, deer, bats and beetles.

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Resting ...

Dunham Massey " Deer Park "

One of the residents having some lunch !

It's a hard life !

Good job I'm not camera shy !

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Spring Bank holiday ..

Today Monday 25th May is a public holiday in the UK - offices and factories are shut but of course the shops remain open .

Warm sunny weather has brought people out of their homes today for visits to the shops , pubs , city centres, seaside and of course the countryside.

We decided to head for the countryside and visited Dunham Massey with the Hall, gardens and deer park.

The place certainly attracted enough people and by afternoon the car park was full.

I'll post more pictures of the place throughout the week.

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Last of the Spring ..

These are the last of the spring flowers in our garden - these pansies were planted seven or eight months ago and have supplied us with some welcome colour over the winter.

The garden will be lacking in colour this year as the "latest" scheme is to plant as many vegetables as possible.

Today was another attempt to mow the lawn but after a week of continuous rain I had to abandon this idea and just trim the edges where the grass was thick and hope that the lawn will soon dry ..

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Did you know .... ????

I was checking my profile : which shows occupation retired : and clicked on the word to reveal that in the Blogging World there are 9,180,00 of us retired persons out there Blogging.

Now that is some figure !!!

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Vicky Christina Barcelona

Wednesday and another trip to the Senior Screen.

This week was Vicky Christina Barcelona written and directed by Woody Allen.

A Drama/Romance - Vicky ( Rebecca Hall ) and Christina ( Scarlett Johansson ) holiday in Barcelona for the summer and get romantically involved with artist Javier ( Juan Antonio Bardem ) and his ex wife Maria Elena ( Penélope Cruz ).

I was a little disappointed and must admit that my attention span started to wander . The local cinema classified this film as a comedy - but I'm afraid there were not that many laughs.

A plus point was the wonderful scenery of Barcelona on display ..

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Keeping cool !!!

Today we have news of the Dept of Health's Heatwave Plan.

It would appear that we may expect temperatures this summer in the UK of 30C. ( 86 F. ) - hot for UK but not for Spain where the temperature often reaches 40 C.

We are advised to paint our houses white !!! 

Is this a plan, in our economic downturn, to regenerate the paint production industry?

This is one of the most peculiar ideas I've heard for a long time - UK architecture does not lend itself to being painted white.

Come winter to we have to repaint to red ??

Another idea in action !!!

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Today ..... Football and rain !!

A rather showery day here in the North-West - some heavy rainfall and more due over the weekend.

The good news for the locals is that Manchester United drew with Arsenal and thereby obtained their third successive Premier League title ( 2008/2009 ) - a total of 18 over the years and equalling the record set by Liverpool.

Their rivals Manchester City managed to lose to Tottenham 2-1 and their hopes of competing in the UEFA Europa League next season look very slim ..... 

United are now looking forward to their meeting with Barcelona in the Champions League final in Rome on the 27th May.

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